Joe Oliver: The uncanny parallels between Trudeau and Harris

financialpost.com:

After receiving the backroom blessing of Democratic Party powerbrokers, Kamala Harris quickly closed the presidential polling gap — though without granting a single interview. “Unburdened by what has been,” to quote the new Democratic nominee, many voters enthusiastically support her candidacy simply because she is not Donald Trump. But what she stands for should be of intense interest, not only to American voters, but to America’s allies and rivals around the world. For Canadians, the many parallels between Harris and Justin Trudeau are uncanny.

In both cases, personal brands were created out of whole cloth with the shameless collaboration of mainstream media. Justin Trudeau was launched as leader of the Liberal Party after a remarkably undistinguished career whose apex was as opposition critic for secondary education and sport. Democrats want everyone to forget that last month Harris was a clear political liability, with 54 per cent of Americans viewing her unfavourably. Like Trudeau, Harris has been anointed in the hope she will win, rather than for what she has accomplished, and with barely a thought about how she will govern.

“Sunny ways my friends, sunny ways” evokes a distant memory of crushed expectations and broken promises. Harris pledges the “politics of joy” yet is the standard-bearer of (decidedly un-joyful) “Trump derangement syndrome.” And she is distancing herself from Joe Biden’s weak (and joyless) track record on the border, inflation, crime and foreign policy. Paradoxically, her perceived ineffectiveness as vice-president may help her pull it off: having had little influence in his administration she may evade blame for its results, even though she was an enthusiastic advocate. She is also wisely